CUC Aims to Offset Emissions from Board and Staff Flights

Carbon atom

Aviation accounts for about two percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, a figure poised to grow in the coming years. This presents a challenge for staff and board members at the Canadian Unitarian Council, who live and serve congregations spread out across a vast country and often rely on air travel as the fastest means of transport. 

Staff are responding to this challenge creatively — CUC Youth and Young Adult Ministry Program and Events Coordinator Casey Stainsby, for instance, took the train instead of flying to the young adults gathering at Unicamp in Ontario, and to the Western Region Gathering in Edmonton. But in situations where air travel is necessary, the CUC will be taking responsibility for its staff and board members’ flights by purchasing carbon offsets for travel in the future.

Carbon offsets are credits for greenhouse gas reductions achieved by one party that can be purchased and used to compensate (offset) the emissions of another party. Purchasing offsets, therefore,  funds projects that will reduce the amount of carbon in the atmosphere by an amount equivalent to the carbon burned by your flight activity. 

Carbon offsets are typically measured in tonnes of CO2-equivalents (or CO2e) and are bought and sold through a number of international brokers, online retailers, and trading platforms.

The CUC recognizes that carbon offsets shouldn’t be the first resort, and that shrinking one’s carbon footprint should always be the starting point. Purchasing carbon offsets, furthermore, is a complex process given that their sale operates in a largely unregulated marketplace. The CUC will take steps to ensure that the carbon offsets it purchases meet several criteria, among them:

• • Ensuring that carbon offsets have been certified to meet a recognized standard, like those established by Gold Standard. Gold Standard was established in 2003 by the World Wildlife Fund and other international NGOs to ensure projects that reduced carbon emissions featured the highest levels of environmental integrity and also contributed to sustainable development. Some of their projects can be found here.
  • That the offsets are real, verified, and enforceable.
  • That the project would not have taken place had the offsets not been purchased.

The CUC encourages its members to consider purchasing their own offsets for emissions produced by air travel, adhering to the criteria listed above. To help with your research and decision-making, the CUC has pulled together some resources for you.

David Suzuki recommends:

• • Using Gold Standard Certified Projects for carbon offsets
  • Avoiding offset projects relating to tree-planting and destruction of halocarbon gases: 
    • offsets from tree-planting projects are problematic for a number of reasons, including their lack of permanence and the fact that these projects do not address our dependence on fossil fuels. Explore some examples of tree-planting projects.
    • offset projects involving the destruction of halocarbon gases such as HFC-23 squeeze out more sustainable offset projects like solar and wind
  • Asking questions like:
    • Additionality: How do you know the utility would not have built the wind farm but for the money you gave them?
    • Permanence: How do you know the timber company that planted those trees won’t just cut them down in a few years?
    • Leakage: How do you know the landowner you just paid not to cut down an acre of rainforest won’t use the money to buy a different acre and clear that?

If deciding not to fund through Gold Standard Projects, here are some questions to ask the carbon offset vendor:

• • What is/are the specific offset project type(s) (e.g., wind farm, methane capture, etc.) in your portfolio and where are the carbon offset projects located?
  • Have your carbon offsets been certified to a recognized standard (Gold Standard, CDM, VCS, Climate Action Reserve, Green-e Climate Protocol for Renewable Energy, etc.) to ensure quality? If so, please list the standard(s).
  • What steps have you taken to ensure that the carbon offsets you are selling are additional?
  • How do you ensure that the greenhouse gas reductions that your carbon offsets represent are quantified accurately?
  • Are 100 percent of your offsets validated and verified by accredited third parties?
  • If you are selling offsets that will be created in the future (i.e., forward crediting), what mechanisms (insurance or otherwise) have you put in place to ensure those offsets will actually be delivered?
  • What percentage of your portfolio (by tonnes of CO2e) is made up of offsets from tree-planting or agricultural soils projects? If it is a significant percentage (more than 20 percent of your portfolio), how do you address permanence risks?
  • Do you use a publicly accessible registry to track your offsets? If yes, please list the website. If not, how do you ensure that your offsets are only sold to one buyer? And do you “retire” offsets that you sell?
  • What is your company doing to educate consumers about climate change and the need for government policy to deal with it?
  • Are you a member of the International Carbon Reduction and Offset Alliance (ICROA), which has a Code of Best Practice that members must adhere to?

More information on carbon offsets can be found via:

• • • David Suzuki Foundation  
    • Climate Stewards
    • National Resources Defense Council (NRDC)
    • Native Energy

Learn About Carbon Offsets

SeedChange is USC Canada’s New Name

By Martin Settle and Jane Rabinowicz, Executive Directors, SeedChange

Next year, USC Canada will turn 75 years old. For the staff and Board of USC Canada, formerly known to many as the Unitarian Service Committee, seeing this milestone on the horizon has sparked much internal reflection. We are honoured to serve an organization with such a long and successful history. 

Over the last few years, however, several events alerted us to a significant barrier. The majority of Canadians no longer recognize the name USC Canada. Younger Canadians never knew our founder, Dr. Lotta Hitschmanova.  

Lotta’s intention when founding USC Canada was to seed positive change in the world. We’ve taken this quite literally in recent decades by shifting our focus to farming. The food movement is gathering steam, climate change is a growing focus, and ever more people feel compelled to do their part for global justice, health, and sustainability. We’re well-positioned to meet Canadians’ need for a way to take meaningful action.

Yet, when we reach out to new audiences to invite them to take part, we often fall flat. People always ask the same question — what does USC stand for? And because we are proud of our history, our association with Unitarians, and Lotta’s contributions, we happily tell them. But all too often, the message of what we do—supporting farmers in their fight for justice, health and sustainability— is overshadowed by our past. We confuse people.

We want to continue mobilizing Canadians to connect and contribute to our cause, just like Lotta did with so much passion in her time. We need to feel relevant to people today, and at the same time showcase the 75 year track record that helps build trust and confidence in our organization. So with much soul searching, and with the full participation of our staff, board, and longstanding supporters, we decided to change our name. 

Unitarians have been our longest-standing supporters, and the early builders of our organization. We are happy to get the chance to share our new name with you. Our new name is SeedChange. 

Getting used to a new name takes time, sometimes lots of time — we hope that you love it, and for those who don’t, we hope you’ll give it a chance to grow on you. We think this name does an excellent job of honouring our past while also serving the needs of our future. With a strong, recognizable and clear name, we can continue working with farmers to seed change and build a better world—make it a kinder, gentler place as our founder, Dr. Lotta Hitschmanova would have said—hopefully long into the future. 

Thank you, and a warm welcome to SeedChange! Please reach out to us at any time, we would love to hear from you! 

Jane Rabinowicz: jrabinowicz@weseedchange.org
Martin Settle: msettle@weseedchange.org
1-800-565-6872

Visit the SeedChange Website

Book Documents Unitarian Author’s Spiritual Journey

From trying magic mushrooms for the first time to dancing with witches, journalist Anne Bokma — a member of the First Unitarian Church of Hamilton — experimented with over 20 different spiritual practices that she shares in her new book My Year of Living Spiritually. 

The book, now available for sale, also documents Bokma’s journey away from the strict fundamentalist religion of her youth towards the secular spirituality she found. In trying the various spiritual practices, Bokma found each of them changed her life for the better in some way and brought her meaning, community and a sense of peace.

Bokma believes the book will hold a special significance for others who consider themselves “spiritual but not religious,” a group whose membership comprises 80 million North Americans. She also believes it will resonate with other Unitarians, people who’ve found a spiritual home in that faith.

“I think this book appeals to people who realize we do have a spiritual dimension to our existence and it doesn’t have to happen in church,” she says. “Having said that, I have a chapter on community called ‘Finding Your Tribe’ and in that I talk about why I still do go to church and why the Unitarian Church is right for me and, I think, right for a lot of people who are spiritual but not religious.”

Watch the Book Trailer for My Year of Living Spiritually

Make a Difference by Serving: An Update from the CUC’s Nominating Committee

You can make a significant contribution to the national UU community by serving on the CUC Board of Trustees (BOT) or the CUC Nominating Committee (NC). The Nominating Committee is inviting expressions of interest from or on behalf of individuals in congregations who are interested in serving on the CUC Board or Nominating Committee beginning in May 2020.  Please contact any member of the NC to discuss the opportunities listed below.

Nominating Committee

The CUC’s Nominating Committee is responsible for identifying and nominating prospective members of the CUC Board.  The NC meets monthly via web conference. NC members are elected at the Annual General Meeting in May for a three-year term. 

NC open position:
– BC/Western Region (BC to Manitoba) 

Board of Trustees 

The CUC Board of Trustees is responsible for governing the organization in the best interests of the ownership – the member congregations of the CUC. The Board, together with the Executive Director and Official Observers, meet face-to-face at the Annual General Meeting, and regularly by web conference. CUC Board Members are elected at the Annual General Meeting in May for a three-year term. More information on the Board is on the CUC website.

BOT open positions:
– Central Region (Area between Kingston to Thunder Bay, Ontario)

–  Youth Observer to the Board (YOB)

In 2019, the CUC Board of Trustees created a second Youth Observer to the Board (YOB) position. The Junior YOB will shadow and work with the Senior YOB, and in turn, become the Senior YOB the following year.

The primary purposes of the Youth Observer positions are:
– To bring youth perspectives and voices to the CUC Board
– To summarize youth issues for the Board
– To present Board positions back to Canadian UU youth

In 2020, a new junior YOB will be needed. For further information, check out the CUC website  or contact the current YOB at yob@cuc.ca 

Submit expressions of interest  for the above positions to nominations@cuc.ca

Learn More About the Nominating Committee

Ordinations

Rev. Patricia Trudeau

Two ministers were ordained into Unitarian Universalist ministry in October. Rev. Danielle Webber was ordained by the Calgary Unitarians on October 20, and Rev. Patricia Trudeau was ordained by the Neighbourhood UU Congregation on October 27. Your national UU community congratulates and welcomes you both into ordained ministry!

Rev Danielle Webber

Visit & like the Canadian Unitarian Council on Facebook!

Upcoming Events 2019 – 2020

Share what’s going on in your congregation. Contact communications@cuc.ca

Youth and Young Adult 

National

2020 National Annual General Meeting and Conference, May 15 – 17, 2020, Halifax, Nova Scotia – Hosted by the Universalist Unitarian Church of Halifax
The theme for Conference 2020 is Making Waves! The call for streams and workshops has been issued. More information coming soon.

CanUUdle XX: Celebrate 20 years of CanUUdle!, May 15 – 18, 2020,  Halifiax, Nova Scotia 
Hosted by the Universalist Unitarian Church of Halifax
CanUUdle is the beloved annual youth conference where youth and adult allies from across Canada (and sometimes from the States!) gather to worship, build community, and grow in their Unitarian Universalist identities alongside the multigenerational National Conference. In 2020 CanUUdle will be celebrating its 20th anniversary. Registration will open in winter 2020. More information coming soon.

Chorus 2020: National Young Adult Conference, May 15 – 17, 2020, Halifax, NS
Join UUs from across Canada at the National Conference, where the theme for 2020 is Making Waves. There will be specific programming, worship, and socializing opportunities just for young adults within the multigenerational Conference, as well as the beloved Bridging Ceremony and dinner with the youth of CanUUdle. Registration will open in winter 2020. More information coming soon.

International 

UU-UNO Intergenerational Spring Seminar On Climate Justice, April 15 – 18, 2020, New York, NY

Unitarian Universalist Association General Assembly, June 24 – 28, 2020, Providence, RI

International Council of Unitarians and Universalists (ICUU) Meeting & Conference, October 26 – November 1, 2020, Montreal, Canada
Supported by the CUC, this ICUU Conference is an excellent opportunity to meet and get to know UUs from all over the world. Donations from Canadians go to support leadership development for participants from emerging members groups.